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As the Twitter pitching season goes into high gear, I felt it might be a good time to share some hard lessons from my own experience. You see, I entered a pitch contest last year and was as nervous as you, but low and behold my pitch garnered lots of attention. At the end of that fateful day I had more than a handful of agents and editors clicking the heart under my pitch! It was like the clouds parted and that ray of sun was shining only on me.

BUT….I wasn’t ready. Nope. My manuscript had been edited, revised and critiqued to death but not in the right way. My concept was great but my premise was weak and both resulted in a big, fat NO from several agents I queried.

So I stopped querying and asked the others to wait. My next step was crucial. I took my great concept to the pros and started working with the likes of Larry Brooks, reading Margie Lawson, and breathing all over the three act structure. But those things alone were not enough for me to breathe new life into my manuscript. I needed to put in THE WORK.

My next step was crucial. I took my great concept to the pros and started working with Larry Brooks, reading his books and sharing my pages with him.He was brutal and I benefited greatly from it.

But that beating alone was not enough for me to breathe new life into my manuscript. I needed to put in THE WORK.

Yes, you’ve heard it many times and I am here to testify about it again. DO THE WORK.

After getting advice, I sat down and restructured my entire story. A story I’ve been working on since 2013. A post by Cheryl Klein suggested I create a goal/obstacle chart to track each scene’s action and make sure the story was moving forward. After that, I read a book by Connor Goldsmith of Fuse Literary that nearly changed my life. Among other

A post by Cheryl Klein suggested I create a goal/obstacle chart to track each scene’s action and make sure the story was moving forward. After that, I read a book by Connor Goldsmith of Fuse Literary that nearly changed my life. Among other things it said each chapter should have the protag up then the antag down and vice-versa, to keep the conflict going. Genius! So I incorporated that too.

Then I decided to experiment with voice and found the right one for my MC.

But that’s not all. I broke down and hired a story coach. Yes, someone who could be my personal devil’s advocate, walking me through every page of my manuscript to help me make it the best it can be.

And now, I’m almost ready to resubmit because I am confident I’ve finally found the secret sauce for my novel.

All that said, take your time and DO NOT SUBMIT UNTIL YOUR BOOK IS THE BEST YOU CAN MAKE IT. There will be pitch parties when you’re ready and eager agents/editors too.

There will be pitch parties when you’re ready and eager agents/editors too.

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Let me preface this post by saying that I am no expert on writing; I merely state what I’ve learned, observed and determined so that I can share it with you. 🙂

So today I want to talk about voice. We hear it so much as authors. Voice. The book ‘just has to have it’, the agents say. But you might ask, ‘what is it exactly? Don’t all characters have a voice, after all, they are talking?’ True, but just having a character talk is not voice. It’s what the character demonstrates his or her self to be. Let me explain.

When you sit down to lunch or drinks with your friends and you all start talking, you know that no matter the subject each of you will reveal their voice in the conversation. One friend may shy away from certain topics and you can tell by the way she participates, what she says or does not say. Another friend always has a definite opinion and she expresses it in a defiant way. And yet another makes light of just about everything. Study your friends and then translate that to your character. That is voice.

How do you do this? Examine each of your characters and ask yourself. ‘Who is Johnny? How does he feel about certain things?’ Then give Johnny the mannerisms, words and attitude he needs to pull it off. You need to make Johnny real, like your friends. And he needs to maintain that ‘voice’ throughout the book.

Readers need to be able to get together in book clubs and say ‘Johnny just hates xyz,’ or ‘Johnny is just a joker, he never takes anything seriously.’

How will they know this? VOICE!

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Is it just me or should those who perform critiques be required to follow a code of ethics? (btw I did say I was heads down all this week to work on my book but I just had to get this in). Let me explain: whether you are a beta reader, a critique group member, a critique partner or an agent at a conference, agreeing to perform a critique should require a few standards. Specifically, what types of things NOT to do. I’ve had my work critiqued a few times so I know what my responsibility is as a writer: don’t take things personally, learn from the comments, make needed adjustments and incorporate only what is really useful. But what about the one who is giving the critique? It goes beyond just being constructive and pointing out both the good and the bad, it also requires and I emphasize, requires, some credibility standards. This is especially true if the person performing the critique is getting paid to do so, as in the case of agents at a conference (yes they get paid because the author has to pay for the critique as part of the conference). If you have hired someone to critique your work, as in an editor, it is within your rights to demand a credible critique. Just because someone has the credentials to critique does not mean they are necessarily credible. Personally, if I am shelling out some dough for you to comment on my work, I want the most for my money. The following are two inexcusable practices I’ve seen done that really should not happen in a quality critique.

Premature questions – I know you have all seen this in your manuscripts: the person uses track changes and before reading the entire 10-20 pages (or whatever the number) they stop prematurely and add a comment about something they usually find the answer to later on in the read. If you are performing a critique and you ask a premature question, have the courtesy to go back after you’ve found the answer and remove the comment.

Skimming – This should be a cardinal sin for anyone who performs a critique. We writers can tell when you have only skimmed the material. How? Because you end up asking questions again, this time because you skimmed the part that would have answered that question. This is especially insensitive and down right sinful if you are an agent getting paid to read for a conference. I’m not saying all agents do this, but many do, so I say to them, either agree to read fewer pages so that you can commit to doing a good job, or don’t do any critiques. It is not our fault that you did not have time to read the entire submission – most agents get these manuscripts well in advance of the conference. If you want us to be professional when we submit, be professional when you critique.

So now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I must say that some critiques I’ve had were great; very well done. But for those of you who are skimmers and premature-question-askers, p-l-e-a-s-e cease and desist!

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During my lifetime I’ve learned that the least draining way to address adversity is to manage it– not fuss, fight or resist. For instance, I’ve been laid off several times and so I always have a Plan B, just in case. I’ve also discovered that you have to embrace change because it’s an opportunity to leap headfirst into something new. You can never rest on your laurels because they are soon forgotten.
That’s true in any profession, including writing books. So I realize what I’m getting into and due to my experience I’m not afraid. I write because it’s fun and getting traditionally published will be another check off my bucket list. I am no stranger to hard work and perseverance is my middle name. I’m ready to get my hands dirty and pull my own weight. Oh, and I sleep with earplugs because my husband snores. Better that than fuss, fight or resist, right?

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Okay, let me preface this by saying I am NOT traditionally published, yet, but I do have some experience in breaking into a difficult field. That is what this blog post is all about. What I am about to share with you are the required steps to be successful at anything, but particularly, the writing field.

Ask Yourself Questions
The first thing you need to do is an honest assessment of your motivation. Why do I want to be a published author? Nope, that’s not the question. Rather ask yourself these:

1. Do I like to write? – I don’t mean the creative part, I mean WRITE, like for hours on end just typing words. If you don’t, this may not be for you.

2. Do I love words, sentences, phrase-turns? – This is important because answering this in the affirmative will make doing #1 much easier.

3. Do I like to read? – Well this is obviously necessary because after all, you will have to read your own work over and over. But you also have to like reading other people’s work, either off the shelf, or in a critique group (more on those later).

4. Do I have talent? – Okay this one is relative to some people, but if you are a good storyteller and can write a coherent sentence, you might be in the right field. However, if you hated English class, are not a good speller, or get your homophones confused, again #1 will be very frustrating. Remember, an editor’s job is not to do these things for your manuscript. That is YOUR job.

Whew. Now that we are passed that, let’s move on to the requirements needed to succeed. Most of you probably have a job. You may even have a profession. If so, what did it take to get into that profession? You certainly didn’t just walk in the door and say ‘here I am!’. You had to perform some preliminary steps. These same steps can be applied to getting published if the above questions were answered in the affirmative.

1. Investigate the business. – When I was a sandblaster in a local factory, I decided I wanted to be a journalist. Well, actually I decided that in high school, but I got sidetracked. But once I finally made the concrete decision to pursue my goal, the first thing I did was enroll in college. Sure not all of us can just go to college, but I had a job, and some time, and needed to see what others who had already reached my goal, had learned. Going to college was not just an academic exercise for me. I did not hang out on the quad drinking beer and pledging sororities; rather, I spent my weekend working as a clerk at the Dayton Daily News for $25 a day. I didn’t need the money, I needed the exposure to the business. In addition to learning how a paper runs, I also took a freelance gig writing articles for the Dayton Black Press. They were desperate for writers and I was desperate for experience. It was a match made in heaven, so to speak. By the way, I occasionally wrote a column for the college paper, too. Yes, I was busy. But I was determined, and that is what you need to be. As a writer, you may be able to intern or even get a part time job at a publishing company. I hear a lot of agents / writers say they started that way.

2. Meet and talk to people in the business. While working at the DDN, I met a few reporters who told me about an organization that helped black media folks get in the business. So I joined the National Association of Black Journalists as student member. Best decision I could make at that stage in my quest. I attended my first convention in Atlanta and met reporters from small papers to major television networks. And I did NOT waste my time eating, drinking and partying – although all of that was available. Instead, I got in front of as many pros as I could who were doing what I wanted to do and came home with 100 business cards. When I got home I followed up with some of them and got some great advice. I am still very close to many I met that first year. In your case, attending writer’s conventions can be just as beneficial.

3. Research your craft. I continued to learn the craft of writing and reporting and read lots of books by folks like Sam Donaldson (ABC) and Dan Rather (CBS) so that I could learn what they had to go through to get into the business. I find that I learn more from others mistakes and triumphs than anything else. As you know from reading my blogs, there are tons of resources for learning about the business, so find them and study them.

4. Do YOU. I never tried to be anyone other than me. I saw other reporters but I had my own style and I focused on that. For you, this simply means don’t follow every trend. Decide the genre that feels best for you and write it. Agents’ tastes change all the time. That’s because readers’ tastes change all the time. Eventually there will be a market for what you do if you do it well.

5. Practice your craft. After leaving the paper but before graduation, I decided to choose TV over print. And right after that I had the ability to meet a local reporter in my political science class. The first thing I did was ask him to lunch so I could pick his brain. As a result, he got me an internship at his station. That internship was my foot in the door, and I made sure I didn’t leave there without a tape of my abilities. That station had NEVER let an intern on the air. EVER. But guess who recorded 10 stories during that internship? Yours truly. A White House reporter I once met said that I was ‘tenacious.’ That is a necessary quality to succeed. For you this means, write, write, write.

6. Be professional. When you’ve done all the above and you are ready to show folks what you’ve got, approach it professionally. I asked teachers as well as professional reporters how to write my introduction letter. I even asked a local TV news director if I could come to his station and do an ‘informational interview’ to find out how he got into the business. He helped me narrow down my locations to ensure I went to a station where I could learn and grow. Again, there are resources you can tap to learn the right way to approach an agent or editor.

7. Do not get discouraged. I know, I know. EVERYONE says this, but it’s true. Before I got my first reporting job offer, I received 60 rejection letters from TV stations. But it was #61 that gave me the job. It reminds me of a line from the 1939 movie A Star is Born when Vicky Lester goes to the casting office and the secretary says, “Do you know what your chances are? One in 100 million.” Then Vicky replies, “But maybe, I’m that ‘one’.” For this to work, you need to learn to take criticism and use it to your advantage. You have to accept change and embrace it. This is a must or you will never, ever grow as a writer. Not everyone who criticizes will be right, but you are smart enough to know what you can use and what you should lose.

8. Believe in yourself and your work. This is the most important thing I can tell you. Again, I do not have an agent or a contract, but I know I can do this, and if I believe in myself and I have the above items covered, it’s just a matter of time.

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I know many of you have heard me talk about James Scott Bell (JSB); either on my other blog ItsKidlitKnight, or on my blogtalk radio show, SelfPublishIt!

But I can’t really help it. The day I went into the Barnes and Noble looking for books on becoming a better writer, his was the first one I bought. Plot & Structure is not his only book, though. You can find all of them on writersdigestshop.com. But this particular book has so many good lessons, I consider it my go-to text. Granted, I am a new fiction writer and still have not incorporated all the things he espouses, but I will in time. This particular post; however, is about one thing I do try hard to incorporate: the notion of knowing where you are going in your story.

I often reference Mr. Bell’s approach, which uses ‘doorways of no return’ to indicate when a character is moving further into his conflict and that has helped me to shape my story before I even write it. Bell says the protagonist must be shaken out of her routine and forced into action, and this needs to happen fairly early in the book; about 1/3 of the way in. Some say 1/4 and others don’t indicate when, but I like the idea of the third because it gives me time to introduce the character, set the stage for her issue, and show her normal world. Once that is accomplished I am ready to push her out of her comfort zone! She has to act — usually due to some external force since she is reluctant to move forward, for whatever reason. Then the fun begins! I have time in the middle to create a more detailed world and all its complications that can prevent the protagonist from reaching her goal. She has to have obstacles, the stakes have to increase, and these can be either internal or external things to overcome. The last third begins when she goes through the last door. At this stage there is no turning back. We are headed to the final showdown and the resolution (or not).

Of course, I won’t go into all the details here, but Mr. Bell’s book explains in detail all the things she needs to face before she can reach her goal. It’s an excellent guide with examples so that you can actually see how it’s done.

Well, I’d say more but I have to run to my novel-in-progress class. But don’t hesitate! If you need writing resources, JSB’s book is the first place I’d look.

A huge THANK YOU to the amazing Laura Drake for inviting me to be her guest today!

Don’t put BS on your pages!

Write back story that is fresh and compelling.

Readers need some back story. They need to know a few critical points that happened before your story opened. Those points are the motivators for your POV character’s decisions and actions. Those back story points drive your story.

Way too often, back story is stagnant. Flat. Boring.

Agents quit reading.

Aack!

Writers may think the reader needs all the cool history the writer created. They share it in chunks.

But when back story is shared in chunks, it stops the momentum. Stops the story. Tempts the reader to skim.

When a reader skims, they’re not engaged. They’re not connected to the characters. They’re not hooked.